37. Scream from the ground (4)
#37
“If you kill something something will come out.”
“Kwaaaaa!!”
The cave giants roared at the same time. Ronan holding La Mancha ran forward.
As long as I knew the power of the sword there was no need to hesitate. Rushing in a straight line Ronan swung his sword. The two feet of the giant who was leading the way were separated from his legs.
“Wow…!”
The body of the giant who lost his legs collapsed forward. Ronan jumped up kicking the back of the falling giant and landed on the shoulder of the giant right behind him. Suddenly. As La Mancha circled in the air the giant’s head fell to the ground.
thud!
“Kwoaaaaaak!”
Blood spurted out from the neat cross section. The giants on both sides became angry and threw their fists. Ronan dodged the attack by jumping straight up. Quaaaang! Two massive fists collided in the air.
‘You really look like shit.’
If it had been hit it would have been crushed to the point where it was unrecognizable but since it didn’t hit it didn’t really matter. Ronan who was contemplating between right and left ran on the arm of the slightly uglier giant on the left.
Suddenly! La Mancha drew an arc again. A yellow line appeared around the giant’s nose and the top part fell off. The giant’s eyes widened as he saw half of his companion’s face disappearing.
“K…Kwok?”
“What are you looking at?”
Ronan quickly turned his body and delivered a slash to the right giant’s eyeball. Sigh! A yellowish liquid gushed out from his half-split pupils.
“Kkkkkkkkkk!!”
A scream of pain came from the giant’s mouth. Even though he was cutting rocks there was nothing that caught him like cutting through water. Even though he wasn’t wearing mana it was like this.
The blind giant lifted up his hands and covered his eyes. Ronan’s arm shot forward. Sigh! La Mancha penetrated through the gap between his fingers and escaped after digging into the giant’s brain.
“Guwok.”
The body whose soul had left began to tilt. It took less than a minute to get here. The sword body which had drunk a lot of his blood was shining brightly. Ronan said looking around at the other giants.
“It’s worth getting scared at this point. “Aren’t you scared?”
Slowly I began to think that the killing was unnecessary. To be honest Ronan was hoping that if he scared them enough the giants would run away. The giants howled in reply and rushed forward.
“Kwooooooooo!!”
Ronan sighed. He didn’t seem to have any intention of quitting. Ronan muttered as he leapt towards the other giant.
“If that’s the case then what?”
The elegant sword road continued like a snake. As always it didn’t take long for the job to be completed.
****
“Wow that’s amazing. “It also happens like this.”
Ronan was dipping the tip of La Mancha’s sword into the pool of blood at his feet. As the puddle was rapidly shrinking a haze-like energy was rising above the sword body.
Behind him the dismembered corpses of cave giants were scattered everywhere. Ronan looking around at his devastation shrugged his shoulders.
“In the end what did these guys want to do?”
“…What are you?”
Doron looked at Ronan in fascination. Steam was rising from the bodies covered in the giants’ blood.
He couldn’t believe what he saw. Ronan never set foot on the ground until he had slain twenty-six giants. It was like a bird of prey hunting.
“Doesn’t this have a sheath? “If I carry it on my back like this I think my butt will turn upside down.”
Ronan swung La Mancha who had drunk all of his blood into the air. A sound like a ghost whistling rang out. Doron belatedly came to his senses and opened his mouth.
“Ah…I guess I’ll have to make the scabbard again. “I’m sorry but would you please wait a moment?”
“Why do we have to recreate it?”
“I entrusted the finishing work to another old man’s workshop but they came in. “It may not have been destroyed but it’s probably buried somewhere deep in the rubble.”
“Um…I made it as best as I could but I’ll look for it later. “Anyway what was it you were trying to say earlier?”
“What were you trying to say? That’s right. “You have a good memory.”
Ronan nodded his head. He couldn’t hear Doron’s words until the end because of the inconsiderate rocks that got in the way. Doron opened his mouth unable to take his eyes off the unrealistic tragedy.
“I…think that maybe the king of the cave giants has appeared.”
“The king?”
“okay. Whether it is a king or a captain he is the one who acts as the leader. “Not only was there a strange gathering of people but the actions of the cave giants today showed a sense of organization.”
“Ah isn’t that too hasty to judge?”
“Of course that’s very likely. But as you know we dwarves are the race that has the most contact with underground monsters.”
Doron told the story of the King of the Cave Giants an oral tradition among the dwarves. The king who is several times larger than a typical cave giant is said to live deep underground and rule over the kingdom of cave giants.
“So are you saying that the attack on the miners in the mine shaft and the dozens of them that followed all the way to the blacksmith shop and started amok were the actions of the Stone King?”
“I’m not sure but other than that I can’t really guess. “I’ve never experienced or heard of anything like this…”
Ronan smoothed his chin. It seemed like a nonsensical story but there was something plausible about it. Well what’s not to believe when in ten years time winged thugs will come down and destroy the world?
“That’s good. Then I will follow where these friends came from. “If we kill the king or whatever something like this won’t happen.”
“Now wait a minute…! How about waiting a little bit? “I heard you called people too?”
“That’s why I’m going now. “I don’t know who that girl will call but there’s no one who will leave her alone when she says she’s going to go into the basement where monsters lurk.”
I realized this when I saw his reckless side just now. The cave giant was a monster with whom coexistence was impossible.
Ronan determined stretched her. He scooped up the giant’s blood with his finger and rubbed it on Didi Khan’s nose.
The blood had a terrible sulfur smell. Didican who was twitching his eyebrows woke up and started playing.
“Kuhuhuhuh! Whoa…! What what?! “What kind of smell is this…”
“Didican. Can you move? No you have to move.”
“Ronan? Ugh…damn. What happened? Why do you think the number of corpses has increased?”
Didi Khan held his head like he was suffering from a terrible hangover. Ronan briefly explained the current situation. Didican suddenly heard that he was going to find the king of the giants and his face distorted.
“What do you mean by that? “A king?”
“I don’t know either. I’ll finish it on my own so go upstairs with old Doron. “If you ask Sita she will heal most of your injuries so just keep that in mind.”
“Sita?”
“You saw it last time. “That black and basic-looking kid.”
“ah.”
Didi Khan nodded his head. He stared in disgust at the head of the cave giant rolling at his feet. Suddenly Didican’s eyes widened.
“Wait a minute Ronan.”
“what’s the matter?”
“What is this?”
Didican pushed the giant’s head with his foot. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the back of the giant’s head then stretched out his index finger.
“this.”
“What is this?”
Ronan narrowed his eyes. Where Didican’s index finger pointed there was something like a pattern engraved on it. The faint glow of light gave a very strange impression.
“Do they also have tattoos or something?”
“I don’t think so. “It feels strange… just wait a minute.”
Didican narrowed his eyes and began examining the bodies of the other giants. Although the parts were different the same pattern was engraved on each body.
The werewolf’s intuition was sending a warning. Didican who was drooling called Doron.
“Doron come and take a look at this.”
“Hmm?”
Doron toddled over and looked at the pattern. Doron who was stroking the pattern with his wrinkled hand opened his mouth.
“This…I don’t know. “It seems like some kind of magic but…”
“Magic?”
“okay. But I have no idea what kind of magic it is. “This was engraved on the bodies of giants?”
Ronan nodded. Doron who was thinking while massaging his beard soon shook his head. It was something he had never seen before even in the hundreds of years he had lived.
Somehow the more and more questions I had the more I wondered. Ronan cursed.
“Damn it makes me even more curious. “I’ll be back.”
“Even if I stop you you’ll leave anyway. Please be careful.”
“Yes Ronan. “There is something unusual about this incident.”
“Nothing will happen so don’t worry. “What’s there to be afraid of when you have this?”
Ronan waved La Mancha. After seeing the two people off he headed deep into the cave. Not long after walking a huge passage leading further down appeared. The traces of the giants’ passage remained clearly.
“After the King of the Cave there is an unidentified magic.”
There was only darkness in the eerie passage. It seemed like the sound of water was coming from somewhere.
Maybe I should have brought a torch. I wonder if everyone was saved soon. Ronan continued walking thinking about various things.
How much time has passed? The narrow field of view widened and an open space appeared. Ronan stopped walking. The wonder of the underground that puts Gran Cappadocia to shame unfolded before my eyes.
“This…is…really…amazing.”
It was a space so wide that it was impossible to tell the end. Ronan looked around like a man in a daze.
Colorful luminous moss covered the walls and ceiling of the vast cavity. Rather than a cave I felt like I had been thrown into a night sky full of stars.
Water flowed from somewhere and formed a stream. There were animals flying around that were confusing as to whether they were birds or insects. Giant mushrooms with tentacles hanging down like jellyfish were growing everywhere.
The night sky embraced by the underground formed its own unique ecosystem. It was an environment where it would be okay to build a village not just a few blacksmith buildings.
‘Does the kingdom of stones really exist?’
Ronan took a slow step. There were numerous footprints of cave giants on the damp floor. I don’t know where they were hiding or whether they can’t be seen because Ronan killed them all but it was easy to infer that the giants had originally gathered here.
‘No that’s not it. As expected something is strange.’
Ronan sighed. All remaining footprints were relatively new. If this was a kingdom of giants older traces had to remain. Ronan developed a hypothesis based on clues.
The giants who had been wandering all over the underground gathered here for a while. The gathered giants moved toward Gran Cappadocia in batches. As if I had received instructions from someone.
“Ugh!”
At that time Ronan who was walking while looking at the floor hit his forehead on something. He cursed and raised his head and a wall made of yellow crystal caught his eye.
The wall stretched upward in a gentle curve. What is this thing in the middle of the cave? It was a moment when I was looking at the wall without thinking much.
“Fuck.”
Ronan took a deep breath and stepped back. He almost missed the hilt of his sword.
It wasn’t a wall. A giant whose entire body was covered in crystal was sitting crouching down. Ronan saw the giant’s back and mistook it for a wall.
It was a size that was on a different level from the typical cave giant. Even if I crouched down it was like this but I couldn’t even guess how bad it would be if I stood up.
But something was strange. Ronan tilted his head.
‘…is he dead?’
The giant crouched and did not move. I couldn’t hear a heartbeat and I didn’t smell that damn sulfurous smell that came out every time the cave giant breathed.
What on earth is this? Are you sure it’s a cave giant? It was the car where Ronan wanted to take a closer look at the giant. Someone’s voice was heard from the other side.
“There’s a problem?”
“It’s not accurate. However the connection with the last object sent was lost.”
“Damn it what should I do then? “There are no giants left now.”
“It doesn’t matter. “I confirmed that all facilities were destroyed anyway.”
Ronan instinctively hid his presence. He clung to the giant and slowly moved in the direction of the sound. Before long the sight of a man and a woman talking came into view.
“Well that’s enough. “With this the empire’s metallurgy and smelting technology will experience a significant stagnation.”
“There is a high possibility of regression. “Most of the craftsmen would have died.”
‘What are those bastards?’
Ronan who had been overhearing the conversation frowned. Judging by their physique they were both human. She was wearing pure white robes and armor.
The appearance of the robe was particularly unique and the hood that covered her face down to the nose was reminiscent of the grim reaper from a fairy tale. Then the woman raised her palm and interrupted her man.
“Wait a minute.”
“hmm? “Why do you do that?”
“I think there’s an intruder.”
“intruder? “Nothing was detected on the mana boundary stone?”
“It smells like sulfur. “Right there.”
The woman pointed in Ronan’s direction with the tip of her chin. Her armored man tilted his head.
“okay? “I don’t know.”
“Just wait. “I will come back.”
“no. Just give it a shot and you’ll see. Fireball.”
Suddenly the man who lifted her arm was chanting her incantation. The fireball shot from his hand flew straight toward Ronan.
“What the fuck…!”
Ronan ran out swearing and rolled on the floor. The fireball that touched the giant exploded and made a loud noise. The man who saw Ronan whistled in admiration.
“Hey what really happened?”
“The movements are agile. “Be careful not to miss it.”
“I guess so. Fire Wall.”
That was the moment Ronan turned to her man. Grumble! A wall of fire appeared out of nowhere and surrounded Ronan on all sides. The man slowly approached Ronan and said.
“What are you?”
“…That’s what I wanted to ask. “What are a man and a woman doing alone in this gloomy basement?”
“Oh you’re such a bold brat. “You don’t like it?”
The man snapped her fingers in the air. The wall of fire slowly began to narrow. The mushrooms and moss that came into contact with the fire burned and made a sound like frying.
“What should I do? “After all it’s right to kill him right?”
“I have a lot of questions but… I think it might be better.”
“yes. “This kind of trivial error can delay the arrival of a star.”
“what?”
Ronan’s eyes widened. My heart started beating rapidly in response to a specific word. The two people who heard Ronan’s voice turned their heads.
“What is it kid? “Do you have anything to say?”
“What did you just say?”
“Hmm?”
“What does it mean the coming of the stars?”
The man and the woman looked at each other. The woman shook her head. The man scratched the back of her head and looked at Ronan again.
“This guy’s mouth is so reckless… I’m sorry but I can’t answer that question. “I’m going to die anyway so tell me something else.”
The man shook his head as if he was disappointed. Ronan grabbed the hilt of her sword. I felt my breathing becoming heavier. A somewhat exalted voice flowed from between my lips.
“No no. You guys have to answer. “I need you both to come with me.”
“Huh you’re going to catch me?”
The man snorted at her. This guy is really funny. The moment I was about to say that Ronan’s figure disappeared from sight. Only the bisected wall of fire remained and flickered in the darkness.
Her man’s eyes widened. A voice came from his ear.
“huh.”
Ronan who had disappeared appeared between the two. Tuk. The man’s left arm fell to the floor.
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